Many-Body Physics

Course manual 2025/2026

Course content

In this course, we will use techniques of Quantum Mechanics and Statistical Physics to the study of materials consisting of nearly infinitely many particles. After introducing some formal theoretical methods using simplified examples, we will be able to apply techniques of many-body physics to real-life materials.

The main aim of the course will be to give you a basic understanding of how the formal theory of quantum mechanics can be used to describe the practical emergence of a seemingly unbounded array of possible collective properties among solid materials, with exotic, measurable and often useful consequences that have no counterpart in individual or elementary particles.

As we will see in this course, the interactions between the nearly infinitely many electrons and atoms give rise to things as diverse as rigidity, regular atomic lattices, and superconductivity. At the same time, they are also responsible for the emergence of fundamentally new particles, like phonons, fractionalised charges, Majorana fermions, Higgs modes, and even magnetic monopoles. Indeed, any piece of known physics seems to be realised in some material, somehow. From cosmic strings and black holes to relativistic particles, they can all be found within many-body physics.

Study materials

Syllabus

• Lecture notes

Objectives

• The student will understand and be able to explain and apply all of the basic concepts of many body physics discussed in the lecture notes.
• The student will be able to understand and explain the central ideas and principles underlying the advanced topics discussed during the lectures.
• The student will be able to derive or reproduce all results in the lecture notes, including both the main text and the exercises.
• The student will be able to analyse new problems within the context of models and concepts of many body physics in terms of concepts discussed in either the lecture notes or the lectures.

Teaching methods

• Lecture
• Seminar
• Supervision/feedback meeting
• Self-study

Lectures will present new materials and include interactive discussion to allow consolidation of knowledge, practicing analytic skills, and placing results in a broader context.

Tutorials provide opportunity for hands-on practice, live feedback, team-work, and discussion.

Self-study will help develop academic and analytic skills, argumentation, and retention of material.

Learning activities

Attendance

Programme's requirements concerning attendance (TER-B):

• Each student is expected to participate actively in each component of the programme that he/she signed up for. A student that does not attend the first two seminars of a course, will be administratively removed from the seminar group. A request for reregistration for the seminars can be applied to the programme coordinator.
• If a student cannot attend an obligatory component of a programme's component due to circumstances beyond his control, he must report in writing to the relevant teacher as soon as possible. The teacher, if necessary after consulting the study adviser, may decide to issue the student a replacing assignment.
• It is not allowed to miss obligatory commponents of the programme if there is no case of circumstances beyond one's control.
• In case of participating qualitatively or quantitatively insufficiently, the examiner can expel a student from further participation in the programme's component or a part of that component. Conditions for sufficient participation are set down in advance in the course manual.

Assessment

Reading assignments will help you to keep up-to-date with the course. These are optional but if taken, may be applied towards 10% of the final grade.

Exercise sheets will be handed out to supplement the in-text exercises found in the lecture notes. Tutorials will cover the lecture notes, its in-text exercises, and the additional exercise sheets. Tutorials and exercises will not be graded. All exams will consist of exercises similar to those of the exercise sheets and problems discussed in tutorials.

Partial exams are optional, but may be used to replace exercises about early chapters of the lecture notes in the final exam. The final exam will cover all course material, and be divided into three exercises, each worth 30% of the final grade. Exercises in the final exam about early chapters of the lecture notes may be replaced with the result of partial exams.

The grade for the final exam should be more than 5.0 to pass the course.

Inspection of assessed work

The manner of inspection will be communicated via the digitial learning environment.

Answer and assessment models will be made available through the digital learning environment.
Additionally, the course coordinator may be contacted to make an appointment for inspection of individual work.

Assignments

Reading assignments
Guided reading of the lecture notes

In-text exercises
Exercises within the lecture note text

Exercise sheets
Additional practice material

None of these assignments are mandatory, but the reading assignment may be applied towards 10% of your final grade and both types of exercises will be discussed in tutorials and will be representative of the exams.

Fraud and plagiarism

The 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' applies to this course. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board of the programme will be informed. For the 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' see: www.student.uva.nl

Course structure

Additional information

Recommended prior knowledge

Quantumphysics 1 en 2, Thermal physics, Electricity and magnetism, Condensed Matter Physics.

You can follow Many-Body Physics without having followed a course on Condensed Matter Physics. During the course, we will review, refresh, and elaborate on some parts of Condensed Matter Physics.

More information

Up-to-date information on the course is provided through its Canvas page. Here you will find the lecture notes, exercises, reading assignments and recorded lectures.

Contact information

Coordinator

• prof. dr. J. van Wezel